Mario Fuentes and team land on the podium in debut race in new Jimco Hammerhead Class 1 Car
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The team of Mario Fuentes, Bob, and Justin Lofton piloted the #179 Jimco Hammerhead Class 1 car to a hard-fought 3rd place finish at the 2020 Baja 1000. The team also included co-pilots Derek Balcunas, Cody White and Hector Fierro. The team completed the longest loop in the history of the Baja 1000 in an ultra-rough and technical course finishing with a time of 25:03:48.022.
Mario Fuentes started the race and drove to race mile 275 where he handed the car to off-road racing veteran Bob Lofton. Bob took the car to race mile 427 where he handed it over to his son and off-road champion Justin Lofton to take it to the finish line.
“It was a great first experience for me racing in Class 1 and it was a very tough course. I got nerfed at race mile 24 and my rear tire carrier broke. After we fixed that, we had a clean run. I feel very fortunate to have teamed up with the Lofton’s. They have a ton of racing experience and are great people. This was a very special race for me – it was my daughter Emilia’s Birthday, so it felt like a double celebration. Thanks to all of our chase crew from Jimco, the Lofton’s, and The Fuentes team. Special thanks to Hiper Gas Energy Resources, Baja Gas and Oil, Lofton Racing, Dougans Racing Engines, Fortin Racing, and Yokohama Tires. I especially want to thank Jimco Racing and Robbie Pierce for running all the chase logistics and having such a great full-service shop. They really make racing off-road fun and easy! I can’t wait to be racing again in 2021!” stated Fuentes.
Justin Lofton took the last leg of the ultra-technical course, piloting the #179 Jimco Hammerhead Class 1 from Race Mile 427 to the finish. “We had a relatively smooth run. Mario and my Dad did a great job not getting caught up in any of the bottlenecks that happened. I broke a right rear brake line through one of the washes which took about 10 mins to repair. The course was slow technical which took a lot of discipline to not overdrive. I would like to thank Mario for letting us drive his new Jimco Hammerhead Class 1 Car. Jimco Racing flawlessly prepped and ran great pit support combined with our crew,” stated Lofton.
The Baja 1000 concludes the season of racing in the 2020 SCORE Desert Championship. Look for Mario Fuentes to be racing in his #179 Jimco Hammerhead Class 1 car in the 2021 SCORE Desert Championship.
